Thursday, October 4, 2012

My coworker introduced me to a site with some great activities for teaching anger management techniques for children. A couple of the ideas are below:

Bubble Blowing for Breathing

Many adults have realized the benefits of deep breathing to calm angry or anxious feelings. Kids can be taught this technique by learning to blow bubbles slowly, according to HelpStartsHere.com. Young children can be taught that quick breathing does not result in the big bubbles that slow, deep breaths provide, according to the website. Other techinques to show children how to slow breathing is teaching how to count backwards from 10.

Angry Balls

Creating "angry balls" is another recommended activity that parents and young children can do together. An angry ball is made by filling a balloon with dry rice or sand and securing the tie. When anger strikes, young kids can soothe their powerful feelings by mashing the ball, throwing it on the floor or squeezing it.

Monday, October 1, 2012

Expressing
emotionscan be very difficult for children, especially those who
are very young. It is often easier for
children to explain the sensations in their bodies (i.e., “My tummy hurts”)
than to identify emotions (i.e., “I am nervous").

I found a drawing on the internet of a human body. I use the image to help children identify the cues their bodies give them when
experiencing certain emotions. I give them a picture of the human body with the words, "When you are _____, where do you feel it?" (I fill in different emotions such as happy, sad, upset, scared, and so forth). The child can then mark or color the parts of his of her body where he or she feels the emotions.

You can
discuss with the child what it means to be happy, sad,

upset, and scared, and help
them explore how these emotions make their bodies feel. By knowing what they are feeling in their
bodies when feeling certain emotions, you will be better equipped to understand
the child’s behavior and to help the child choose appropriate coping skills to
deal with those emotions.